Be Mine!

My friend Casey wrote an anti-Valentines post on her blog Redneck Mother and I posted the following comment:

I didn't plan anything special at all. Then I pick up my son from daycare

to find that he has valentine cards and bags of treats in his cubby

purportedly from his classmates and that one mom brought cupcakes for

everyone. These children are less than 2 years old. They don't need the

sugar high or the straight to landfill plastic goodies and they don't

understand what the cards are for.

But what really bothered me was my instant reaction of mommy guilt that I

hadn't also brought valentines for his classmates to reciprocate, that I

didn't know that was the social convention even this young, that I am

probably perceived as the mom who never does anything special for the other

kids but just receives the treats that all the other moms prepare. I can't

believe I'm dealing with this crap already!!!

How do you buck convention without harming your child socially? It doesn't

matter now- but it will when he's in 3rd grade.

She was kind enough to bring my comment to the forefront to foster discussion.  This is something that I can see myself really struggling with over the years, so I'm all ears.  Casey is a free-thinking eco-friendly Texan (yes, they exist).  Her 9 and 4 year old boys and her garden thrive on free-range learning (homeschooling) and organic compost, respectively.  If anyone can help me with this, she and her network can.  I'll be checking in on Casey's blog for responses.  

BTW, the custom goth candy heart is courtesy of cryptogram.com.

Have fun!